Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Receives HealthGrades 2012 Women's Health Excellence Award

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For more information, contact Elizabeth Duncan.

New Report Finds Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in ID to be both 5-Star rated and be the recipient of the Women’s Health Specialty Excellence Award in 2012

Boise, Idaho – Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center is among the top 5 percent in the nation for excellence in women’s healthcare, according to a new report released today by HealthGrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make an informed decision about a physician or hospital. The study evaluated 16 women’s medicine, cardiovascular, and bone and joint health treatments and procedures over the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 using data from the federal Medicare program.

Of the 4,783 acute care hospitals in the nation, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center and 175 other hospitals were identified as top performers, receiving the 2012 HealthGrades Women’s Health Excellence Award™.

Participation in the study was not voluntary; all 4,783 of the nation’s acute care hospitals were evaluated by HealthGrades as part of its HealthGrades 2012 Trends in Women’s Health in American Hospitals report.

Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center and the 175 other recipients of the HealthGrades Women’s Health Excellence Award had, on average, women’s mortality rates that were 42 percent lower than the poorest performers across nine diagnoses and procedures, and complication rates were, on average, 14 percent lower than the poorest performing hospitals across seven procedures.

“In our study HealthGrades noted the rate of surgical intervention for women suffering a heart attack has increased over the years. This is good news, especially for patients who choose care at hospitals that are top performers in women’s healthcare,” said Divya Cantor, MD, MBA, HealthGrades Senior Physician Consultant and author of the study. “Our goal is to provide current, independent data on clinical outcomes to help prospective patients make informed decisions about their providers while also identifying hospitals that are setting national benchmarks to which other hospitals can aspire.”

“There is growing research on disparities in care, defined as differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations, such as between men and women,” said J. Robert Polk, MD, MPH, Saint Alphonsus Health System Chief Quality Officer and Vice President, Quality and Patient Safety. “National studies indicate that there are disparities in care between men and women for example in the diagnosis, treatment and appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures related to coronary heart disease. With the data analysis here we believe at least on the acute hospital side in terms of mortality and complications that these gender related disparities do not exist at Saint Alphonsus.”

If all of the nation’s hospitals had patient outcomes among women at the level of those receiving the HealthGrades award, more than 39,000 women could have potentially survived their hospitalization and more than 19,000 women could have potentially avoided a major in-hospital complication.

The HealthGrades study examined hospitalization records from the MedPAR database in all 50 states, for the years 2008 through 2010. The following procedures and treatments were analyzed: heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, coronary bypass surgery, peripheral vascular bypass, coronary interventional procedures, resection/replacement of abdominal aorta, carotid surgery, and valve replacement; total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, spinal surgeries, and hip fracture repair.

To be eligible for the HealthGrades award, hospitals must have met volume requirements in stroke and either coronary bypass or valve replacements; met the volume requirements in at least six additional cohorts of the 16 evaluated; and have transferred out less than 10 percent of stroke patients. Volume requirements are a minimum of 30 female discharges over the three years, with at least five in the most recent year for the cohort.

The HealthGrades 2012 Trends in Women’s Health in American Hospitals report, including the methodology, can be found at http://www.healthgrades.com.

About Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center


Saint Alphonsus is a 387-licensed bed regional medical center serving people throughout the Northwest. As a not-for-profit medical center, Saint Alphonsus reinvests profits back into the community and works to improve the health and well-being of those we serve by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, innovative and community based. Saint Alphonsus focuses on providing services in a spiritual, healing environment, and is renowned for its state-of-the-art digital environment and pioneering technologies; award-winning clinical services; and the region’s only Level II Trauma Center. Saint Alphonsus is part of Saint Alphonsus Health System, a four-hospital, 714-bed integrated healthcare system serving the full range of the health and wellness needs of the people in southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. Saint Alphonsus Health System is a member of Trinity Health. For information about Saint Alphonsus visit www.saintalphonsus.org.